No Way Out
by xXSunshineGirlXx
Summary: Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale are great friends, and a great couple. One day, they have a huge fight and say things they don't mean. A terrible event occurs. Will they be able to apologize, or will they lose each other before that happens? LASHLEY


No Way Out

A High School Musical song fic by xXPhilippineSunshineXx

_Summary: Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale are great friends, and a great couple. One day, they have a huge fight and say things they don't mean. A terrible event occurs. Will they be able to apologize, or will they lose each other before that happens? LASHLEY (A song fic to Phil Collins's __No Way Out__ I DON'T OWN THE SONG, OR HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL)_

_Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone __But there's nothing I can say to change the things I've done __Of all the things I've hid from you, I cannot hide the shame __And I pray someone, something will come, to take away the pain_

Lucas and Ashley were sitting on the sand at a beach, in a secluded place, so that they wouldn't get stampeded by fans. "Ash?" Lucas asked. "Hmm?" Ashley said, resting her head on his shoulder, looking out to the setting sun. Lucas started messing with sand and asked, "Um, do you think it's working out? I mean, between us?" Ashley looked up at him in shock, "What do you mean?" Lucas said nervously, "I mean, is this getting anywhere? Our relationship?" Ashley said, "Yeah, I mean, we love each other, don't we?" Ashley thought she was gonna cry. Lucas took a deep breath, "I mean, I know that, but I don't think love is it. I mean, are we together because we want to be? Or, are we together because the fans want us to be?" Ashley let a few tears run down her cheeks and asked, "I _want _to be with you, Lucas! Why don't you wanna be with me?" She stood up and Lucas did the same. "Look, I just... don't think it'll work out between us." Ashley sobbed, "Why not? Lucas, you mean everything to me!" Lucas sighed, "I'm sorry." Ashley broke down into tears just then and there. "Ash," Lucas started, but Ashley cut him off, "Only people that care about me call me 'Ash'" Lucas exclaimed, "Ashley, I care about you!" Ashley said, "Then why are you doing this to me?" Lucas sighed again and said, "Ashley, I..." Ashley never heard the rest, because she stormed off, and yelled, "Forget it Lucas! I thought you loved me!" "Ashley!" he called after her. She walked on and Lucas yelled after her, "Fine! Be that way. I don't care anymore!" He slumped back down in the sand, immediately regretting what he had yelled, and done. _Please, let this stop,_ he prayed silently in his head, _Let Ashley understand._

Ashley, meanwhile, was running into her hotel room, still sobbing. Vanessa and Monique, who's rooms were on either side of Ashley's, ran into her room and asked, "Ash, what is it?" Ashley sobbed, "Lucas... br-broke up w-with me!" "Oh, Ash," Vanessa said, "I'm sorry." Monique said, "I'm so sorry, Ash, I really am. Vanessa and Monique sat Ashley down on the bed, and sat on either side of her, trying to comfort her. There was no success, and finally, Ashley asked, "Could you guys let me have some time alone?" Vanessa nodded, and Monique said, "No problem, girl, no problem." The two other stars walked to their rooms, as Ashley laid down on her bed. She looked at her nightstand, which held a picture of Lucas and her in front of the Sydney Opera House, when they had gone to Australia. She pushed the frame to the floor, hearing the glass crunch as it broke. She closed her curtains and turned off her lights, and laid back onto her bed, feeling that she couldn't possibly face another day near Lucas.

_There's no way out of this dark place __No hope, no future __I know I can't be free __I can't see another way __I can't face another day_

Lucas walked back into his hotel room, which was right across from Ashley's, and in-between Zac's and Corbin's rooms. He slammed his door shut and sat on his bed, holding his head in his hands. Zac knocked on Lucas's door and asked, "Hey, you OK?" Corbin's voice came through and said, "Yeah, what's up?" Lucas went to open the door and let the two others in. He explained everything that happened, and they said when he was done, Zac ran his fingers through his hair and said, "You should've chased after her, you know, apologized right away." Corbin agreed, "Yeah, dude, the longer you avoid apologizing, like, it's harder for them to accept the apology." Lucas muttered, "Why didn't you tell me that _before?"_ Zac said, "Look you _need_ to apologize to Ashley as soon as you can." Lucas nodded, Corbin and Zac walked out of the room, and he went to Ashley's door. He knocked on it, "Ashley? It's Lucas? Can I come in?" He got nothing in response, but he continued anyway. "Look , Ash, I'm sorry. I don't want you to think I don't care about you, I do, really. I just wanna apologize. Do you think you'll be able to forgive me?" Silence was his only answer. He sighed, "OK. I'll be just across the hall if you wanna talk." Lucas trudged back to his room, wishing he could turn back time and take back what he had done to the one person he loved. _Where did I go wrong? _he thought.

_Tell me where, did I go wrong __Everyone I loved, they're all gone __I'd do everything so differently __But I can't turn back the time __There's no shelter __From the storm inside of me, ohhh_

Ashley cried herself to sleep that night, not even bothering to change into her night clothes. The next day, she woke up and wondered why she felt so miserable, and then, she remembered. Lucas had dumped her. She sighed sadly and opened her curtains, welcoming the sunlight in, and taking in the San Francisco skyline. She looked at the Golden Gate Bridge and immediately, memories of Lucas flooded back into her mind.

**Flashback: **_It was just a few months after the phenominally successful movie on Disney Channel aired. That movie was High School Musical. They were touring, you could say, all over the country, and they were scheduled to visit London and Australia soon. Lucas and Ashley were walking on the Golden Gate Bridge, while the others were somewhere else. Ashley looked down and immediately wished she hadn't. "You OK, Ash?" Ashley replied, "Uhh, yeah, I just don't like heights. Makes me feel like I'll fall." Lucas took her hand in his and smiled, "I'd never let you fall. Trust me." Instantly, she felt better, and safer. "Thank you," she whispered. Lucas said, "No problem, Ash." They walked on, and Ashley questioned, "Do you actually think we'll make the two miles there and the two miles back?." Lucas looked in front of him and back to where they had started. "No," he said flatly. "Well, we're halfway there, let's go back now," Ashley said. Lucas smiled at her, "You just wanna go back because of the height, right?" Ashley smiled sheepishly and Lucas reassured her, "Ash, I'd __never__ let anything happen to you. If anything happened to you, I dunno what'd I'd do." Ashley said, "Really?" Lucas looked into her eyes, "Really." They turned around and started the way back, hand-in-hand. _

_ Ashley whimpered and tightened her grip on Lucas's hand as the bridge's walkway rumbled as a truck went by. "I've got you," Lucas said. Ashley said, "I wonder if anyone's walked the two miles of the bridge and then walked back." __**(A/N: I've walked on half the Golden Gate Bridge, maybe only a quarter of it and back, and the cars really do rumble the walkway a bit. It's sorta nerve-wracking for me because I hate heights, but, it was cool. The Golden Gate Bridge is two miles wide, so if you're walking to the other end and back, you'd be walking four miles!)**__ Lucas shrugged and said, "It's possible." Ashley tightened her grip even more as a semi rumbled past and she tripped, and clung to Lucas for support. Lucas pulled her closer to him so that they were face to face. They smiled at each other and Lucas took Ashley's chin in his hand, tilted it upward, as he leaned down. Their lips finally touched in their first kiss together, a warm, tender, passionate kiss that sent electric, spine-tingling feelings through their bodies. They broke apart and smiled at each other. "I love you," Lucas stated. "I love you, too," Ashley blushed. They finished the walk back, hand-in-hand, not having another care in the world. _**End Flashback**

Ashley brushed the thought away and walked to her dresser, pulling out some fresh clothes. She proceeded to the bathroom, turned on the warm water. She took a long shower, and stepped out, dried herself, and put on her jeans and her pink baby-doll top. She blow-dried her hair and put it up in a long pony-tail. Even though she probably looked happy, she was still in a dark place, and she couldn't find a way out.

_There's no way out of this dark place __No hope, no future __I know I can't be free __But I can't find another way __I can't face another day_

Lucas meanwhile was just getting out of bed. He picked out his clothes and went to his bathroom to shower and change. After he had taken a long warm shower, he changed into his jeans and blue shirt and dried his hair, too. At almost the exact same time, all the cast members of High School Musical walked out of their rooms. Zac's room was across from Vanessa's, Lucas was across from Ashley, and Monique was across from Corbin. "So, what do you guys wanna do today? I mean, it _is_ our first vacation together in like, ever," Vanessa commented, signaling the others not to talk about Lucas and Ashley's little fight. Monique agreed, "Yeah, what do you want to do?" Corbin suggested, "We could take one of those cruises around Alcatraz, or we could go downtown and get a few couple souvenirs." Zac joked, "In the case of the girls, that'd be a few _hundred_ souvenirs." Ashley and Lucas actually managed to crack a smile at Zac's joke. "Why don't we walk on the Golden Gate Bridge? Well, maybe just take a few pictures of it, and drive on it. I'm not sure I'd wanna be on a bridge about eight-hundred feet in the air," Vanessa said. "Nessa? It's actually 760 feet, or 232 meters, up in the air," Monique stated. "And you know this... why?" Ashley asked. Monique said, "I was looking at stuff on my laptop last night. **(A/N: I looked up the height of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Internet as I was writing this. I know, I'm such a nerd, aren't I?) **Corbin said, "Either way, I don't think any of us want to be walking on the side of a bridge that high. Let's just go downtown and check some stuff out there." Everyone agreed to go downtown first, and then to the Golden Gate Bridge later, if they had the time.

They put on a hat and sun glasses to try to not be recognized and off they went. The boy's drove in Zac's car, while Monique drove the girls downtown. "Hey, look, Fisherman's Wharf!" Ashley exclaimed, "They used this in that old Full House show theme song." **(A/N: All these places in San Francisco are real. I've visited them before, once.) **"This is cool," Lucas commented. They went to the little side shops, bought a few shirts, some jewelry, even some shells. They rode one of those trolleys, also called cable cars, and took countless pictures of them in front of the many hills of San Francisco, and even Alcatraz. They went inside a restaurant to eat lunch, and sat down at a table, with Corbin, Lucas, and Zac on one side of the rectangular table, and Monique, Ashley, and Vanessa on the other side. They ordered their food, hamburgers and fries, and ate lunch while talking about all the sights they had seen that day. When they were done, they got up, paid the check and were heading out, when suddenly, they heard a thunderous noise, and a split second later, the building started shaking violently. They were experiencing an earthquake.

Everyone clung to tables, chairs, the wall, or someone else's hand in an effort to stay up, but eventually, the force of the earthquake sent them toppling down to the floor. People had started screaming, but they heard one voice command, "Stay calm! Brace yourselves in a corner away from cabinets, windows, or anything that may fall on you! Get under a sturdy structure and shield your face from falling glass or objects!" Then, the shaking started agian, even more violently than before. **(A/N: You can quote me on the earthquake saftey tips. I looked those up too. I'm a nerd, right?)** The gang obliged, as they got under different tables. They covered their head and face with their arms, trying to stay calm. They heard another rumbling sound, and things crashed all around them. All they could hear was falling debris, breaking glass, and the screams of many people. Finally, the shaking ceased, and the screams were silenced to mere whimpers and sobs. They stayed under the tables in mere shock for a few seconds, maybe even a minute, but they slowly crawled out from under the table and stood up. Zac helped Vanessa out from under a table, and Corbin, Monique, and Lucas also emerged from the rubble of the collapsed roof and walls of the building. "You guys OK?" Zac asked. They all nodded and realized that something was wrong. There were only five of them. there were always six of them, maybe nine if Chris, Ryne, and Olesya were there, but they weren't there, and there was only five of them. "Where's Ashley?" Vanessa questioned. _Oh, no,_ Lucas thought. "Ashley?" they called out, "Ash, where are you?" They continued searching for their friend, looking under desks, chairs and tables, but she was nowhere to be found. In an unexpected moment, Corbin yelled, "I found her, but she's hurt, bad. And she's trapped. It'll be hard to get her out." Lucas relaxed as these words reached his ears, but he tensed up a bit when he found out she was hurt. Either way, he couldn't believe it. He and the rest of the cast ran to where Corbin was, avoiding the glass and other debris that had fallen. There, Lucas saw the one person he cared about most, hurt, and possibly dying.

"We gotta get her out," Lucas said. Monique stated, "We can't. You're not supposed to move a severely injured person, unless they're in immediate danger." Lucas asked, "Well, we gotta get her at least un-trapped, right?" They nodded in agreement and started moving the debris that had fallen on Ashley. Ashley was unconscious, trapped from the chest down under boards of wood, plaster, and other rubble. After a long period of work, she was finally free from the debris. Zac said, "We should help the others who might be trapped. Lucas, you can stay with Ash, if you want." Lucas nodded and knelt next to his best friend, and held her hand in his, whispering, "You'll be OK, Ash, we've got you. You'll be OK."

_I can't believe the words I hear __It's like an answer to a prayer __When I look around I see __This place, this time, this friend of mine, ohhh_

The others, meanwhile, were looking around to see if anyone else was trapped. "You OK, Corbin? You look like you're hurt," Monique stated. "I'm fine," Corbin said, putting his right hand close to him. "No, your right arm is hurt," Monique argued. Before Corbin could argue, Monique had taken his right arm, examined it, and declared, "You have a sprained wrist." Corbin rolled his eyes and said, "You're not OK, either." Monique said, "Yeah, it's only a huge cut. Everyone else is hurt too." That was true. Zac had a cut on his side, and blood was showing on his white shirt, Vanessa had a cut on her cheek from which blood was trickling down, Monique had a huge gash on her arm, Corbin had a sprained wrist, Ashley was passed out, and they didn't know what injuries she had, and Lucas had a cut on his lower leg that stained his jeans with red blood. They managed to help two people out of the debris, and that was it. Other people had broken bones, sprained something, or just had cuts and bruises, but go figure, Ashley was hurt the worst. Zac and the rest of the gang went back to where Ashley was and waited patiently with Lucas and her until they heard the welcome sound of sirens.

Everything that happened after that was pretty much a blur to all the cast. Three ambulances had arrived, The severely injured peope were put in and sped off, another ambulance had arrived, Ashley was carefully lifted onto a stretcher, and Lucas followed. The rest of the gang was treated outside for their injuries, and Lucas's leg cut was checked on the ambulance. The paramedics put an IV into Ashley's hand and checked her injuries. They wound a cloth bandage around Lucas's leg and kept Ashley under stable condtion. A few minutes later, they arrived at the hospital, which hadn't gotten any damage, thank goodness. They put Ashley in the ICU, and the gang met up with each other in the waiting area. Zac had to have stitches in his side, and a white bandage was wound all around his middle, Vanessa had a few stitches on her cheek for her cut, Corbin's wrist was in a splint, and Monique had a bandage on her arm. Vanessa asked, "Is Ash gonna be OK?" Lucas sighed, "I dunno. They wouldn't let me into her room, and they wouldn't tell me anything that would be wrong." Vanessa sighed and Monique said, "Well, I guess all we can do now is wait, and hope for the best, right?" The cast nodded absentmindedly in agreement and sat all around the waiting area, watching as other earthquake victims went to be treated.

About forty-five mintues later, a young female nurse came up to them and said, "Are you friends of a Miss Ashley Tisdale?" Lucas stood up immediately and said, "Yes, we're her best friends." The nurse nodded, "Yes, well, would you like to know her condition?" The friends nodded and the nurse took a glance at her clipboard and explained, "Well, when all that rubble collapsed on her, that was the main cause of her injuries. As of now, we know that she had a broken rib, and the rib was driven into her lung. She's on a ventilator now, because her lungs had filled up with blood and liquid." Lucas asked, "A broken rib and punctured lung? Is that it?" The nurse said grimly, "I wish it were, but it's not. She's also had heavy internal bleeding, but we managed to stop that and get it under control. She also had a serious cut on her leg. We're thinking that a shard of glass had been the cause of it, or a piece of sharp metal, maybe a knife, but she's lost about half a liter of blood." Vanessa asked, "Is _that _it?" The nurse explained, "Those are all her injuries, but, unfortunately, she's in very critical condition, and she slipped into a coma as we were stabilizing her condition." Those words echoed in Lucas's head, jumbled, and confusing, _She's in critical condition, in a coma, lost half a liter of blood, she's in a coma. _The nurse asked, "Are you OK?" The cast nodded slowly and the doctor left. "She's in a coma?" Lucas murmured. Vanessa said, "Yeah, I hope she'll be all right." Zac said, "Maybe we can visit her now." So, they asked if they could visit Ashley, and they could. Since it was one visitor at a time, Lucas went first.

He sat next to Ashley's unconscious form on the bed and held her cold hand. "Hey, Ash," he started. "I dunno if you can here me, but if you can, I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being stupid, I'm sorry for hurting you, and I'm sorry I didn't get to apologize. But, I'm mostly sorry because I couldn't protect you. I mean, men are supposed to protect women, well, at least, that's how it is in all the fairytales. You _were_ my fairytale, Ash. You were my princess, I was the prince. The prince is supposed to be heroic, and risk his life for the princess. I couldn't do that for you, Ash, and I'm sorry. We all need you, so, don't go on us, please. Vanessa is your best friend, and so is Monique, and heck, everyone is. We all need you, but I need you most. Remember what I said to you a few months after High School Musical came out, when we were walking on the Golden Gate Bridge? I had said, 'Ash, I'd _never _letanything happen to you. If anything happened to you, I dunno what'd I'd do,' and that's true. I dunno what'd I'd do if you would die. I'd be miserable, that I know, but after that, I dunno what I'd do. We need you, Ash. _I_ need you. Please come back soon." He kissed her hand, got up, and walked out of the room. Vanessa went next, then Zac, then Corbin, and Monique went last. They all waited outside of her room and took turns visiting until the same young nurse informed them, "I'm terribly sorry, but it's time to go, you can come first thing in the morning if you wish." "All right," Ashley's friends said in unison. They called a taxi and they were dropped off at their hotel. They took the elevator up to the top floor, where their rooms were the only ones being used. They each went into their own room to think about what had happened.

Zac walked into his room and closed the door. He went to slide the curtains open, letting the setting sun cast its light into his room. He kicked off his shoes and laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He took a framed picture from his nightstand and studied it. It was a picture of them in London, in front of the bus with the High School Musical cover on it, and they were redoing their famous jump in front of it. It almost looked just like the cover of the High School Musical DVD. Zac smiled and thought, _That was only about a year ago. I can't believe it's been that long. Everyone was so happy then._ He thought then about the earthquake, _At least Ashley's still alive. No one was killed, and that's good. At least Ashley's still alive._ A little voice in the back of his head argued, _**But how long will she stay alive?**_ He ignored that thought and put the picture back. He put in the High School Musical CD, to try and remember the good times. Soon, he was asleep.

Vanessa went into her room and closed the door. She turned on the light, but kept the curtains closed. She didn't feel like seeing San Francisco after what happened earlier that day. She sat down on her bed and turned on the TV. She flipped channels, and she stopped at the news. The broadcaster was saying, "_Just today, a massive earthquake shook a part of San Francisco. The force of the quake caused a restaurant to collapse, trapping people inside. It was rumored that the six members of High School Musical were there, and that Miss Ashley Tisdale was seriously hurt. This rumor has been proved true." _Vanessa watched as the screen flashed images of Lucas following Ashley's stretcher into the ambulance, and showed the rest of them being treated for their wounds. "I hate the press," Vanessa murmured. "I'll bet that tomorrow, if we try to visit Ash, they'll be following us, trying to get answers. I hate the press," she repeated. She instead put in a DVD of she and her friends being interviewed on various TV shows, and of them in London and Australia. She hugged a pillow close to her chest and fell back on her bed after a few minutes, asleep.

Corbin closed the door behind him as he trudged into his room. Like everyone else, he was miserable. He thought, _How could this happen? Who would've thought that Ashley would get so hurt?_ He shook his head and sat on his bed. The only light in his room was from a gap in the curtains of his window. He held his injured arm close to him and sat down in a chair by a desk. He looked through a small album of pictures of the cast. Everyone else had one with the same pictures, and it was like a memory book. There were pictures of them while filming HSM, pictures of them at the concert, pictures of them in music videos, and of Halloweentown, for Lucas, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody for Ashley, Vanessa, and Monique, and Jump In! for himself. Zac had pictures of when he was in Vanessa's second music video for _Say OK_. He smiled slightly at all these memories and shut the album. He laid back in his chair, thinking about the day. He closed his eyes and relaxed, soon to be asleep.

Monique sat in her room, with the lights open, and door closed. She put in a mixed CD of the High School Musical songs, Ashley's CD, Vanessa's CD, Corbin's CD, and the tracks from _Disney Mania 5_ of _Two Worlds_ which Corbin sang, _Kiss the Girl,_ which Ashley sang, _Colors of the Wind,_ which Vanessa sang, and _Go the Distance,_ which Lucas sang. She sat on her bed, bopping her head occassionally to the song. She was trying to forget what the day had been like, and music always made her feel better. Really, it did. She thought, _I wonder how the rest of them are holding up? I feel sorry for Lucas, though, I don't think he and Ashley ever made up._ She forgot about that and laid down on her side, still listening to music. She dozed off, while listening to Ashley's song _Headstrong_. Her last thought before she dozed off was, _Ashley really is a headstrong girl. She'll be fine._

Lucas sat in his room, obviously very miserable. He had closed off his door, he had drawn the curtains, and now he sat in darkness. He thought, _I should have never hurt her like that. How could I have been so stupid! _He sat on his bed and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. He sighed, and got up. He opened his door, and walked right across the hall to Ashley's room. He slowly opened the door, and stepped in. He felt like intruding, but he couldn't stop going in. This room had Ashley in it, and he wanted to be with Ashley. He walked toward her nightstand, and as he took a step, he heard a crunch of glass. He stepped back and picked up the frame. The shattered glass fell as he picked up the dark frame. The picture was of himself and Ashley, in Australia, in front of the Opera House. There were still a few shards left around the edges, and he carefully took the picture out, getting one of his fingers cut as he did. He wiped the blood away on his shirt and studied the picture. He and Ashley were so happy then. And one mistake, one stupid mistake that he made had destroyed all that. He hated himself for doing that. He hated himself for hurting Ashley. He felt so stupid, he wanted so bad to apologize, and to hear her voice say, "Apology accepted," but now, he might never hear here voice again. He thought about that, and he shook it away. _She'll be fine, she will. She'll stay with us._ He took the picture back to his room and sat on his bed, resting himself against the headboard. He fell asleep like that, with the picture in his hand.

The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning, the gang woke up, showered, changed, and met each other out in the hallway. Lucas looked so tired, like he hadn't gotten any sleep. "You OK?" Monique asked. He nodded drearily and they rode a taxi to the hospital. Sure enough, as Vanessa had remarked the night before, the press was waiting on either side of the sidewalk that led to the hospital doors. They were practically swarming like bees, asking questions and holding out microphones. The gang ignored them and pushed their way into the hospital, asking to visit Ashley. The nurse that they had spoken with the night before smiled and greeted them. "Hello! How are you?" The gang mumbled, "Fine." She smiled, "You'll be glad to know that Ashley's condition improved greatly overnight, and that we think she'll be awake from the coma in about three days. Lucas had hoped that Ashley would be awake sooner than that, but three days is a lot better than three weeks, or three months, or three years. Before they even asked, the nurse seemed to read their mind and said, "OK, you can go see her now. Oh, by the way, she's still on the ventilator, but we managed to drain her lungs of any liquid." The crew walked in, and positioned themselves around the room, letting Lucas sit by Ashley's bed.

The heart monitor was the only sound in the room for a while, and then, Vanessa went to the window. "Look at all the press here," she remarked. "It's just a jumble of flashing cameras, and bustling people." Zac went to look it over and said, "Hm, you're right." Corbin commented, "What do you expect? It's the press." Monique smiled, "That's true." Lucas actually managed to smile at his joke. They staye in Ashley's room, only leaving to go to the restroom, and at lunch and dinner, for which they went down to the cafeteria. They went home at eight, and they repeated this for the next day, and the day after that. And each day they came, they pushed their way through the press, and the nurse gave them news that Ashley was doing great. On the third day, the nurse warned them, "Don't expect her to wake up right away. It was only a prediction that she might wake up today." They nodded and walked in. They repeated their ''ritual'' of leaving only to eat and take restroom breaks, and at around seven, they were losing hope that Ashley would wake up on that day. But, as Lucas held her hand, Ashley squeezed his hand, and he looked over at her. Her chocolate brown eyes were sparkling in the light as she looked around, and then at him. "Guys, she's awake!" Lucas said. Everyone looked over, shocked. Vanessa pressed the call button and the nurse came in, smiling. "Hello, Ashley," she stated. Ashley began to gag on the ventilator that was down her throat. The nurse instructed her to relax, and she removed the tape on the cord, and pulled the tube out. Ashley coughed a few times, and Lucas handed her a cup of water. She drank from it and said in a rather hoarse voice, "Thanks." The nurse said, "Now, it'll take a while for you to get your voice fully back, maybe a day or two, so you must only talk when you need to, OK?" Ashley nodded in agreement, and the nurse left them to have time with her. "Ash, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Lucas asked timidly. Ashley smiled her sweet smile and nodded to say that she did forgive him.

_I know it's hard, but you found somehow __To look inside your heart, and to forgive me now __You've given me the strength to see __Just where my journey ends __You've given me the strength to carry on, ohhhh_

Lucas leaned in and kissed Ashley softly on the lips, which resulted in the rest of the gang saying, "Aw, how sweet." Ashley gave them her "death glare" and Lucas stated, "Whatever."

Ashley was released from the hospital a week later. Lucas drove her back to the hotel, and Ashley asked, still sort of hoarse, "Why'd they all leave early?" Lucas said, "I'm guessing that they were packing, I dunno, really, they didn't tell me." Ashley nodded and looked out the window, until they arrived at their hotel. They stopped outside the door, and Lucas said, "I'm gonna blindfold you, OK? You're gonna get a surprise." Ashley nodded and Lucas tied a black blindfold around her eyes. He took her hand and led her through the hotel lobby, and to their destination. He untied the blindfold and they stood in front of the dining area's doors. Ashley looked quizzically at him but Lucas opened the door, and bunches of people yelled, "Surprise! Welcome back, Ashley!" The lights opened to reveal: Zac, Vanessa, Corbin, Monique, Ryne, Olesya, and Chris. Even Bart (Coach Bolton), Alison (Ms. Darbus) and Socorro (Ms. Montez). Ashley smiled at everyone and studied the room. The tables were all against the walls, one table held drinks and snacks, while others had chairs. Vanessa put in a CD and familiar music started. The Start of Something New came on, and Zac and Vanessa started singing to it, and dancing it.

All the HSM songs came on, and they reacted them just for fun. In Stick to the Status Quo, after the song ended, Vanessa pretended to slip and Ashley pretended like the chili fries had landed on her again. Everyone laughed, and the music continued, while everyone laughed, danced, and talked. After a while, people started dancing in couples, you know, boy girl couples. Ryne and Olesya, Zac and Vanessa, and Lucas and Ashley all danced together to Kiss the Girl, and guess what? Ryne really did "Kiss the Girl." Zac was the first to notice. They were dancing to Ashley's song, when he looked, Ryne leaned in to kiss Olesya! He pointed this out to Lucas, Ashley, and Vanessa, and everyone else noticed. When they broke apart, Lucas said, "Lovebirds!" Olesya blushed, and Ryne laughed nervously. Toward the end of the party, Ryne and Olesya found Zac and Vanessa kissing during the song Come Back to Me, you know, Vanessa's song. When _they _broke apart, Ryne stated, "And you call _me_ a lovebird?" Vanessa blushed a deep red, and Zac turned a pinkish color. Lucas laughed, then, he kissed the girl of his dreams, Ashley Tisdale. He had finally found the path from the darkness of the past few days.

_I see the path, from this dark place __I see the future __I see the path (I can see the path) __I see my future_

_The End_

**(A/N: Sooo... didja like it? I know the song wasn't in there much, but... short song, long story. Review, please!)**


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